


You're Right Here

by HelloJello



Category: One Day at a Time (TV 2017)
Genre: Gen, Other, Victor is a dick in this one
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-03
Updated: 2019-04-03
Packaged: 2020-01-01 09:29:09
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 513
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18333287
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HelloJello/pseuds/HelloJello
Summary: Elena decides to introduce Syd and Victor. It does not go well.





	You're Right Here

**Author's Note:**

> I know that Canon Victor had his redemption arc as of season three, but experience taught me that people don't just change so easily, and I feel like Victor should have had to work a little harder for forgiveness and a happy ending (plus I can't get enough of Elena and Syd), hence this.  
> I don't own any of these awesome characters so credit to the creators and actors, no hate only love to Waffle House (which is the setting), and I hope y'all enjoy the story.

Instant regret.

You've never known true I'd-kill-my-landlord-Schneider-if-it-meant-I-could-go-back-in-time-and-avoid-this-mistake type regret until you are sitting in a Waffle House booth, face red as a tomato, while your maybe-still-slightly-homophobic Army veteran father aims a deathglare at your poor trembling-with-fear Sydnificant Other. 

"What does that even mean?" Victor demands, his eyes narrowing. " 'Preferred pronouns.' " He adds air quotes around the phrase. 

Not a good sign. 

"Well, Papí," Elena forces herself to speak, her voice coming out surprisingly steady and calm. "Not everyone feels like they fit inside society's boxes of "male" or "female." Syd identifies as non-binary because frankly there's no binary gender ID that really captures who they are as a person, so calling them "she" or "her" would just be inaccurate." 

Victor rolls his eyes. "Whatever." 

"No, not whatever," Elena practically growls, taking Syd's hand into her own to reassure them. She'll be damned if her father is going to make Syd feel like they're the issue here. Syd isn't Victor's kid; they shouldn't have to deal with this side of him. "You wouldn't like it if everyone tried to call  _you_ a woman." 

"Because I'm not!" Victor retorts, the tips of his ears turning bright red in that telltale angry way of his. "Gender isn't some sort of personality thing, okay, it's just a biological fact. It's having a penis or a vagina. It's not this complicated, so I don't understand why you two  _ladies_ are making it that way." 

" _We_ didn't make it anything!" Elena yells, making Syd jump slightly. She forces herself to take a deep breath to remember that they're in a restaurant and to calm down. "Papí, gender identity and biological sex are two very different things. I know that seems complex to you, but just because you don't fully understand it doesn't mean Syd isn't valid." 

"Fine," Victor huffs, hands up in surrender. 

A beat of silence follows, and in that silence Victor seems to make a decision. 

"I'm done trying for now." 

He rises to his feet, then fishes out his wallet and slams a twenty on the table. 

"That should be enough for you two to get whatever you want," he says, turning towards the door. "Shoot me a text to let me know you got home safe." 

Elena's heart drops as she watches her father leave her for his own ignorance for the second time in her life. 

"I'm sorry," Syd whispers, squeezing her hand. "You were finally patching things up with him, and I may have been too much for him to h---" 

"Don't," Elena instructs, pulling Syd into a hug. "You never have to apologize for being yourself, Syd.  _He's_ the problem, and he's the one giving up and walking out that door. You're right here." 

Syd manages a smile before placing a quick kiss on their girlfriend's cheek. 

"And I'm not going anywhere," they promise, staring past the fire in Elena's eyes to see the hurt and the worry her father's departure has caused. "Thanks for standing up for me, Elena. I love you." 

Elena smiles back at them. 

"I love you too."


End file.
